Courthouse Guard To Protect And Serve Officer Will Guard, Provide Information At Kootenai County Courthouse; Panic Button Will ‘Call In The Cavalry’

Residents entering the Kootenai County courthouse in January will be greeted by a uniformed guard.

And courthouse workers who deal with irate members of the public now have access to a new “panic” button - similar to systems used in banks - that immediately warn police if a citizen gets out of control.

In the wake of last spring’s Oklahoma City bombing and a shooting in Seattle’s King County courthouse, Kootenai County officials have cranked up security in its Government Way courthouse complex.

“We’ve done the most this year we’ve ever done in my five years here without turning it into a fortress,” said County Administrator Tom Taggart.

This summer, metal detectors manned by bailiffs were installed outside courtrooms and in the two adjacent buildings.

Beginning next month, the guard, under a contract with Watson Security Agency, will serve where the county elections workers do now. He also will act as an information booth operator for courthouse visitors.

Commissioner Dick Compton declined to elaborate on the panic switch system, saying only that he didn’t want its “ins and outs” made public.

“Let’s just say if they hit the switch, it calls in the cavalry,” Compton said. “These are unusual times and we need to take precautions.”

County officials considered following Spokane’s example and limiting entrance into the courthouse to the main door on Government Way. They decided they did not want to limit access, Compton said.

Access to the Spokane County Courthouse is now available only through the west and north entrances. Last summer, commissioners there also bought metal detectors and other security equipment and hired eight unarmed guards.

Spokane’s 100-year-old courthouse was labeled one of the least-secure buildings of its kind in the nation, according to a 1992 U.S. Marshal’s Service report.

, DataTimes